Microsoft to Close HTI Mortgage Unit

Microsoft is planning to divest itself of Tuttle Decision Systems and close the mortgage division of HomeAdvisor Technologies Inc., absorbing its Realty Desktop system and other product offerings back into MSN, Microsoft's Internet division, the company confirmed Friday. The move comes just a month short of the first anniversary of the high-profile announcement of HTI's formation by Microsoft president and CEO Steve Ballmer, flanked by executives from Freddie Mac, Chase.com, Residential Funding Corp., and other industry players. The Tuttle division had been responsible for developing MortgageDirect, the HTI online mortgage system. Reports say the sale of the division is already in progress and that HTI joint venture partners Chase and GMAC-RFC have already approved the terms of the divestiture. Microsoft spokesman David Chase told MortgageWire that "the driving event here was Microsoft choosing to sharpen its focus on its core business," emphasizing that the divestiture was "simply a business decision on Microsoft's part that it was best to put the mortgage operation in the hands of a strategic partner." He denied rumors that Microsoft had been disappointed by the performance of the Tuttle division and the pace at which it was developing new products. "It really wasn't driven by that at all," Mr. Chase said. Other observers say the division had yet to show signs of near-term profitability and that the move stemmed from Microsoft's desire to improve its stock performance.